This invention relates generally to prefabricated walls, and more particularly to a prefabricated, free-standing wall having oppositely facing, exterior panels.
It is not uncommon for the interior of business establishments, especially stores, to be renovated or redecorated and, upon occasion, to require the addition of new walls to the pre-existing structure. In the past, prefabricated walls were little more than inflexible simulations of ordinary floor-to-ceiling walls and thus were ill-suited for modern, free-form office designs. In addition, they generally lacked the internal strength to support merchandise display shelves or racks typically found on ordinary store walls. The prefabricated walls disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,462,208 to Mayo issued July 17, 1923 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,672 to Vaughan issued Jan. 23, 1962 are examples of the earlier prefabricated walls and represent the closest prior art known to the inventor. While both the Mayo and Vaughan prefabricated walls are constructed from a plurality of panels set side by side in upper and lower channelled brackets, neither wall includes structural features which would permit it to stand on its own without joining other walls or a ceiling or to support display devices.
One popular alternative to erecting a prefabricated wall was to bring in a crew and build a conventional stud wall on location. Although sturdier than some prefabricated walls, conventional stud walls required far more time and effort on the job site. The costs of construction were high both in terms of labor and time during which the area under construction was unproductive. The present wall preferably utilizes certain of the features disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 178,148 filed Aug. 14, 1980 entitled CURTAIN WALL to which further reference will be made hereinafter, and additionally provides a free-standing wall which has sufficient strength and stability to support merchandise for display.